10 Famous Acting Performances That Got Worse As Their Franchise Went On

6. Superman (Christopher Reeve) - Superman

Easily the most iconic and memorable rendition of the Superman character to date has come from the late Christopher Reeve, who portrayed the Man of Steel over four movies of varying quality, and became an instant international star as a result of his performance. There's absolutely no doubting the perfection of his casting and the brilliance of his performance in the first two movies, though it would have been an uphill struggle for any actor to come up smelling of roses in the dire third and fourth movies. To Reeve's credit, he tried his hardest in Superman III, getting a chance to unleash Superman's dark, corrupted side, but this is largely suffocated by Richard Pryor's insufferable, Razzie-nominated performance. As for the micro-budgeted Superman IV, it's more difficult to defend Reeve, even if he had to suffer under constant financial cutbacks and a terrible script. Nobody seems to much care about the production beyond picking up an easy paycheque, most of all Reeve, who clearly has his mind elsewhere, and given the terrible things he's being asked to do, who can blame him?